We purchased our house just outside

I'm not certain, but I do believe it is only recently that they have had to send you a bill for rubbish tax (currently called TARI).  It may in fact been when TARI came in (Dec 2013 I think) as the new name. I'm sure ours was called TARSU before that. I mention all this as you may want to make sure you have not paid already as I'm sure I've read before that the very same comune has tried to get people to pay again.... Since buying in Italy in 2011 we have always had a bill for rubbish tax, first from a third party collection company and then from the comune (when we were told they had issue bills). Good luck!

Thanx LL. we have an appointment with Commune in two weeks. Hope to sort it then. Not sure we can afford to pay 12 years worth. 

We bought a house 2010 in the nearby comune Borgo a Mozzano and we have never been billed for the rubbish tax. I have asked our neighbors a number of times, and they say that we will have to wait for the bill. I have also been to the comune a number of times for the TASI and IMU, but never been asked to pay the TASI. So, we are expecting a large bill in the future...We did, though, recieve a claim for unpaid IMU 2011 + fees last year, which was totally wrong. I wrote a rather lengthy mail to them explaining so and I did not hear anything more after that.It would be so much better if they could have their records in order.

it is also your responsibility to go the comune when you have bought a property and tell them that you are now liable for rubbish and water bills.  as most comunes have no communication within departments you need to do the voltura for each billable service

I'm surprised at the "water bill" bit, but I assume Modicasa that where you are they are responsible? Ours is/was a private company so we had to go off to their offices to register.

LargeLewis posted;-​"I'm surprised at the "water bill" bit, but I assume Modicasa that where you are they are responsible? Ours is/was a private company so we had to go off to their offices to register".Same for me - private company

you must be in the north! 

Sorry to hear about your predicament, Lindsay. Unfortunately, you should have contacted the "Uffizi Tributi" department when you purchased the property in order to confirm your overseas address for correspondence and the size of your home, as this is how they calculate the rubbish tax, which used to be called TARSU, followed by TARI... Same tax, different names. We receive bills from Council and we transfer payments to their Bank account according to those bank details http://159.213.83.163/pages/ser_cont_tributi.asp There is no direct debit for this tax, but you can transfer the payment from overseas. Council advised us to post a copy of transfer details and their bill to make absolutely certain that payment has been made and that they have all relevant details. We have direct debit for gas, electricity and water ( these are services not provided by Council). Property tax is a different matter.As it has been said, Council departments do not communicate amongst themselves, so the fact that you were dealing with any other department does not mean that "Tributi" will know about your existence... Until they find out that your property has not been paying the rubbish tax...Check with them whether you have not been paying this tax; however, if you have not been receiving their bills, it does not look very hopeful. And the tax over 12 years, plus penalties nay be quite an amount.my advice is to always check with Council whenever you are in Bagni, to ascertain that everything is up to date.in any case, fingers crossed and good luck!

Thanx Gala. We have an appointment with the Commune at Bagni on Wednesday to discuss.  May have to sell house to pay this bill which will be sad. The Estate Agent who sold us the house 12 years ago set up our Codice Fiscale, and then ICI plus bank accounts and ENEL and Gaia. Nothing was ever mentioned about this tax at the time.  The only way we found out about it was because of the huge increase last year which annoyed all the village and was the main topic of conversation.  Know this won't help our case but we do not feel entirely responsible for this failing.  

Hello LindsayIts a nightmare, you will see on my past that we too had similar problems, money has just gone out of the door.  The town and its people are lovely but we are reliant on agents to see us through.  I tried myself to sort things out but couldn't.  We have our third agent who is lovely and quick and with new offices near the Commune.  She has kindly sorted our tax out, I wonder if it was a house renovation job would there have been a reduction anyway?  Ours isn't really habitable (on year 4) but we stay there for a few days in anticipation that we can renovate but we have always had reduced rubbish tax.  We usually stay at a B & B as well.   An accountant or agent can advise unless your Italian is very good for the Commune, mine isn't.  I wish you well, huge learning curve - wish they'd email bills.  Our estate agent/agent registered us for everything, looks like yours didn't.  I hope the Commune goes easy on your predicamen.bye, Babs